People & Places

Best Gadfly St. Louis 2010 - Adam Shriver

An accomplished academic (he's in the Philosophy-Neurosciences-Psychology doctoral program at Washington University), Adam Shriver earned his stripes as an activist and organizer, working for the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). He sees apathy as a barrier to change, but he believes there's a cure: "Agitation is what you use to motivate people to make the leap from interest to participation." He's not talking about raising a ruckus so much as taking an active role in your community, but he does both as the founder of the St. Louis Activist Hub. Originally a blog-only calendar of progressive events, the site soon became an important part of St. Louis' lefty community. Today, Shriver envisions the hub growing into a staple of citizen journalism — uniting the progressive community and taking an active role documenting its activities, as well as operating as a watchdog to keep other media outlets in check. He believes that "people are essentially good," and as a gadfly, he intends to keep pushing, raising awareness, providing facts and agitating the citizens of St. Louis until we prove him right.